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India, A Unit Study for Children

Many thanks to Rajiv and his daughter, Disha, who live in a suburb of New Delhi, for their help developing this page.

Geography

Indus River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Indusis the principal river of Pakistan. It originates in Tibet, flowing from the Himalayas in a north-westerly direction through Kashmir, and then turning south for nearly the entire length of Pakistan. The Indus Valley Civilization had some of the earliest urban settlements in the world.

Maps of India
18 maps of India showing states and major cities. From the Global Security website.

History

Ancient IndiaThe Bhagavad Gita describes a momentary surcease in a vast battle in which brothers fight brothers in bloody, historical technicolor. The principal character, Arjuna, sits in a chariot in the midst of the mass of soldiers who wait — surprisingly patiently — as Arjuna looks into his conscience and questions his divine charioteer, Krishna.

The Ancient Indus Valley
South Asia’s first cities were established around 2600 B.C. in what is now Pakistan and western India. The peoples who built and ruled these cities belong to what archaeologists refer to as the Harappan Culture or Indus Civilization. This civilization developed at approximately the same time as the early city states of Egypt and Mesopotamia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8iGSeTjjY4Armoured Elephants
Ancient Indians used elephants as “tanks” armed with heavy canons. They were used this way since 1100 B.C.

Daily Life in Ancient India
What did the ancient Indians wear? What did they eat? Did kids play with toys? Did they go to school? This site shares daily life in three major time periods of ancient India history; the mysterious and so cool Indus Valley Civilization, the Vedic & Epics Periods, and the Age of Empires.

The Indus Riddle from India Today
A flurry of excavations has uncovered startling evidence that presents a radically picture of the Indus Valley civilization — and calls for a complete revision of ancient Indian history.

Women In India
Commercial Unit Study. The unit ensures that the perspectives of women are included in the study of India’s religious, aesthetic, intellectual, political and social traditions. Outline to help you create your own unit study.

India For Kids

India Facts and Pictures
National Geographic Kids site. India’s earliest known civilization arose about 5,000 years ago on the Indus River in what is now Pakistan. Archaeologists uncovered the remains of two huge cities with brick houses, piped water, and sewer systems. Nobody knows why, but these cities, called Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, were abandoned in 1700 B.C.

India For Kids
This section is for children aged 7-9, to give them an insight into the diverse culture and landscape of India. For each part there is a ‘slide show’ … a bedtime story … somewhere to keep ‘notes’ and suggestions for other web sites to explore.

Indian Child
Megasite with all sorts of resources for children in India about India, such as wild life, famous people, history, and religion.

Language

The Indus Script
There is no such thing as an accepted Indus dictionary; if at all possible, one is probably decades away. Nonetheless, below are summarized some of Parpola1 and Mahadevan’s2 speculations on various signs.

Sanskrit Documents
You will find here various tools for learning Sanskrit such as the Online Sanskrit Dictionary, Sanskrit Tutorials, Sanskrit Pronunciation guides, and software for learning Sanskrit and producing documents in Devanagari & Roman formats, and much more.

Literature and Arts

India: The Living Arts
Our people have inherited great talents. Our way of life is imbued with the sense of beauty. Our women paint on the walls naturally. Our craftsmen know how to make . . . with their hands everything that we have in India. If we have faith in them, they can perform miracles. – Ghandi

South Asian books for kids
Some of these books are translations, but most were written in English. Bibliography with some links of books that South Asian kids would appreciate.

Religion

Buddha Net’s Kids Page
(563?-483? BC) Buddha was an Indian philosopher and the founder of Buddhism, who was born in Kapilavastu, India, just inside present-day Nepal. He was the son of the head of the Sakya warrior caste, with the private name of Siddhartha; in later life he was known also as Sakyamuni (Sage of the Sakyas).

Religions in India
In India, religion is a way of life. It is an integral part of the entire Indian tradition. Secular India is home to Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other innumerable religious traditions, Hinduism is the dominant faith, practiced by over 80% of the population.

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A2Z Homeschooling

A to Z Home's Cool, since 1997, has been the premiere destination site for those researching homeschooling, those who have decided to homeschool and are now looking for new homeschool groups and friends, as well as for families looking for free and low-cost educational materials for their children, homeschooled or not. Also known fondly as "A2Z Homeschool" we have been expanding into social networking and mobile sites. We are adding complete homeschool resources into our site for those who wish to pick and choose their homeschool curriculum freely. We are a religion-neutral homeschool site. We help you understand all the options available in the world of homeschooling.